More and more people, for many reasons, are jumping with both feet into the world of container gardening. It’s rewarding in so many ways! If you have always wanted a garden but have been putting it off until the day you have a large property or lots of extra time to devote to a full traditional garden, please let me encourage you to consider beginning with an easy container garden.
Plan Your Work – Work Your Plan
When I decided to try container gardening, I began by doing just what you may be doing now: I spent some valuable time gathering information, tips, ideas, etc. about gardening, in general, and Container Gardening, specifically. A wise person once said, “People have lived before us.” In other words, we can benefit greatly from the experience and wisdom of successful gardeners who are willing to share their knowledge with us.
Best advice I ever received: Start Out Small.
I’m always grateful for the vast amount of information we have at our fingertips these days. It’s absolutely amazing. The time I spend researching the topic of container gardening is always enjoyable. I love reading books and magazines. And I love watching videos from gardeners all over the world. So educational, not to mention inspiring and encouraging.
I will say I truly believe the absolute BEST advice I received early on was this: START OUT SMALL
I’m so glad I’ve taken this advice to heart!
Seeds or Starter Plants
As I mentioned above, our first steps are Research and Planning. While we’re in the planning stage we will decide WHAT to plant? What do we want to grow? What do we like? I found out that many fruits and vegetables are easy to grow in containers.
So, early this year I decided I would start out small with a few fruits and vegetables I had never tried. I got busy learning all I could.
Then came the $64,000 Question: Will I plant SEED? Or will I visit our local nursery and pick up STARTER PLANTS?
Obviously, seed is very inexpensive. But here we are talking about ways to create an EASY Container Garden. To each his or her own, of course. Clearly, though, starting with plants already established is much easier. Especially when we consider the work involved in planting seeds and caring for their needs for a number of days, or weeks – or even months before they are ready to graduate to the garden.
I grabbed a few lovely, healthy ‘starter’ plants from a beautiful nursery near our home. That was a very fun shopping trip!
Along with deciding WHAT to grow, we need to decide into WHAT we shall plant these plants? We need containers, and they need to be the right size, the right material, have drainage holes…
Pots and Buckets and Planters, OH MY!
What shall we use? In order to make container gardening as easy as possible from the beginning we may consider setting up our garden space using things we already have on hand. Depending on what we will plant, chances are we already have items around our homes which would make perfect planters.
Dig through closets, cupboards, the garage, the attic… With a little bit of effort we can select at least a few ordinary items to press into service.
No need to lay out a bunch of cash on all new containers.
In fact, many people come to prefer the ‘eclectic look’ of a container garden created with an interesting mix of planters, pots, buckets and… well, you name it! Whoever said “Variety is the spice of life” was right!
I cover lots of ideas and information about what we can use … HERE.
Ready, Set… GO!
This past Spring, following months of study and preparation, I had gotten everything I needed together – so I planted my little heart out. Did I keep at it? I surely did. Did I water and fertilize and keep the pests away? I certainly did. Did my little easy container garden succeed at a high level? Well… I cannot tell a lie: It was not … “magazine-worthy”.
It wasn’t a complete failure, though. Some plants did well; others not so well. I did learn a great deal about what NOT to do and now I know a lot about what to do better. Next Spring I’ll have better results! I’m sure of it. Experience can be such a great teacher. I share about some of the mistakes I made HERE.
Still, by avoiding the temptation to attempt too much from the start, it’s likely I saved myself some frustration and disappointment, and, of course, another green thing – dollars. $$$
How We Learn from Our OWN Experience – Take Notes
Another valuable piece of advice I come across often is to keep a gardening journal. By taking notes, photos, even using apps to keep track of our plants’ needs and progress, we can now benefit from our very own experience.
What works? What doesn’t work? What can I do better next year? We live. We learn.
I wish you great gardening success. Keep it simple. Enjoy the process.
Please share your ideas and suggestions about creating an easy container garden here with us. We’re all in this together and learning from each other is part of the fun!
Best possible wishes,
Patty Schaefer
Patty@EasyContainerGarden.com